Children’s Crafts

Children’s crafts are always my first stop, since so many of my readers have children! This year I even shared my picks for the top 5 trends in children’s crafts from Creativation on the Association for Creative Industries (AFCI) blog.

Food Crafting

I’ve always been curious about fondant, and at Creativation I learned how to make a fondant sheep thanks to Cristina of PrimaCristina cakes. If you haven’t played with fondant yet, I highly recommend it! It’s just like playing with play dough, but delicious!

Crafting a Better World

I was thrilled to discover the organization Icingsmiles.org, which delivers beautiful cakes to kids and siblings of kids in the hospital. Cakes are made by volunteers.

Help Heal Veterans is an organization that creates therapeutic craft kits for veterans. I wrote my Ph.D. dissertation about therapeutic art programs for children who lived in war zones, and I’m a huge believer in the potential for creativity and artistic self-expression to enable healing. I enjoyed seeing some of the beautiful creations made by veterans thanks to this program. Some of the veterans have even gone on to become proper artists!

Craftours combine crafting with travel for what sounds like a truly magical experience. It’s something I would love to do with my kids when they are all grown up!